An Orlando, Florida TSA Agent Didn’t Know What The District of Columbia Was

A man flying out of the flying out of Orlando International Airport recently was temporarily held up at a security checkpoint by a TSA agent who, after asking to see his perfectly legal and up to date driver’s license, wanted to see backup ID because he didn’t know what the District of Columbia was. Unfortunately for the TSA agent, that man turned out to be Justin Gray, an ABC-affiliated Channel 9 News reporter. Whups! Gray, who lives in the District of Columbia, then took to the airwaves to mock the Orlando International Airport in the most finger-wagging, reporterey way possible.

When Gray handed the man his driver’s license the agent demanded to see Gray’s passport. Gray told the agent he wasn’t carrying his passport and asked why he needed it. The agent said he didn’t recognize the license.

Gray said he asked the agent if he knew what the District of Columbia is, and after a brief conversation Gray realized the man did not know.

I mean what is the District of Columbia, anyway? I have a feeling that TSA agent is a secret Juggalo.

A TSA spokesman contacted Gray just minutes after he tweeted about the problem. He confirmed that a District of Columbia license is an acceptable form ID.

The spokesman said, “Officers are trained to identify fraudulent documents, which can potentially deter and detect individuals attempting to circumvent this layer of security.”

Nice comeback, TSA spokesman. Officers are trained to identify fraudulent documents, but not trained to say, understand the basic geography of the very country that they live in. I guess to be fair to the TSA, that’s something that normally learned in elementary school. To be not fair to the TSA, they hired someone who didn’t have an understanding of something that they should have learned in elementary school.

After the incident occurred, a spokesperson from the TSA said that all of the TSA agents in Orlando are now being shown copies of a District of Columbia driver’s license so this incident doesn’t happen again. I recommend that you read that last sentence and really think about it. Just swirl it around in your head in the way a vintner does a fine glass of wine.

There is a sign in the Orlando airport that is entirely in Spanish, and it ostensibly tells children under the age of 12 that they do not have to remove their shoes when going through security. It is written as a letter and is signed “TSA Oficial Smith.”

I’m guessing the agent was trying to do everything short of saying the real reason he was flagging him was because the id looked phony. That can cause a problem (in retail, you’re supposed to get a manager if you catch conterfeit money). Still, this was handled with all the delicacy of a man in a fish suit explaining airport security via interpretive slamdancing.